Hurricane Irma

A Florida continuing care retirement community has agreed to pay $181,663 in back wages to 454 employees who were involved in the evacuation and subsequent care of residents during and immediately after Hurricane Irma.

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed bills into law Monday requiring assisted living communities and nursing homes in the state to have emergency generators. Legislators in Oklahoma are considering similar requirements for assisted living.

A bill requiring assisted living communities in Florida to purchase backup generators and have fuel on site is on its way to Gov. Rick Scott's desk for signing after the Florida legislature approved it last week.

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Associations representing assisted living operators in Florida have agreed to drop their legal challenges to a rule requiring them to install generators for resident safety during power outages. Instead, they will support a revised proposed rule issued Friday by the state Department of Elder Affairs, Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday.

During a weekend in which the federal government shutdown dominated the news, a bright spot emerged when Atria Senior Living residents and employees wished actress Kristen Bell good luck hosting Sunday night's Screen Actors Guild Awards. See the video and read more about the shutdown, too.

The man behind a proposal that would add a "Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility Residents' Bill of Rights" to the Florida constitution says it is an effort to "establish a situation where the rights of residents of long-term care facilities are at least on par with the rights of everyone else." At least one organization representing care and service providers, however, describes the proposal as "nothing more than an avaricious ploy by trial lawyers to profit from increased lawsuits."

In senior living, we have plans to mitigate disasters, address corporate compliance, handle elopement and assure quality. What plans do we have in place for crisis communication and reputation management?

Florida assisted living and nursing home operators say they will avoid potential $1,000-per-day fines and loss of licensure after an appeals court Tuesday handed down a decision that emergency rules requiring them to have generators and fuel in place by Nov. 15 did not remain in effect while Gov. Rick Scott appealed a previous court decision that the rules were "invalid exercises of delegated legislative authority" by state officials. The governor disagrees.

Welltower has settled a lawsuit against a former employee, and the terms will push back his start date with a competitor about two months, executives said Tuesday. During an earnings call, they also discussed Brookdale Senior Living, natural disasters and transitioning one operator from a triple-net to RIDEA structure.

Hurricanes, wildfires, generators, HCP and metrics of success were among the topics that executives of Brookdale Senior Living discussed with shareholders and analysts Tuesday on a third-quarter earnings call.

Holiday Retirement's operating model change from live-in property managers to more traditional executive directors continued to affect occupancy in New Senior Investment Group's independent living portfolio in the third quarter. But things are looking up, executives said.

You may not be terribly concerned that federal lawmakers are looking into recent deaths in a Florida nursing home. But this inquiry could blossom into something that affects senior living operators in one of the worst ways imaginable.

LeadingAge Florida and Florida Argentum filed an emergency joint motion Tuesday asking an appeals court to prevent state agencies from enforcing generator rules that have a Nov. 15 compliance deadline. The action stems from disagreement over the ramifications of a state Division of Administrative Hearings decision Friday that the emergency rules "are invalid exercises of delegated legislative authority."

Organizations representing Florida assisted living and nursing home operators cheered Friday's decision by the state's Division of Administrative Hearings that invalidated two emergency rules put in motion Sept. 16 by Gov. Rick Scott. The rules had given them 60 days to obtain generators and enough fuel to enable them "to sustain operations and maintain comfortable temperatures" for at least 96 hours following a power outage.

More than 70 Elmcroft Senior Living properties currently in Ventas' portfolio will be transitioned to a new management company led by a former Holiday Retirement and HCP executive early next year, Ventas Chairman and CEO Debra Cafaro said Friday. The communities will be owned by Ventas and an institutional investor in a joint venture, she added.

New contenders are challenging staffing as the issue most top-of-mind for senior living operators, according to participants in a panel discussion at the Oct. 15 NCAL Day that preceded the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living's 68th Annual Convention in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas — Despite the "tough" political and regulatory environment, assisted living and skilled nursing providers "will make it through this. And many of you will not only survive; you will prosper," American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living President and CEO Mark Parkinson told those attending the opening general session of the organization's 68th Annual Convention & Expo. He gave four reasons.

With advance planning and masterful execution, the Watermark Retirement Communities team was able to care for residents and create an environment where they thrived, even in the midst of Hurricane Irma. Looking back, several best practices can be gained from this experience.

A Florida senior living community operator says that a $350 extra assessment it is charging residents in the wake of Hurricane Irma is permissible under the terms of its residency agreement. The state ombudsman, however, announced an investigation Wednesday.

Florida Argentum has asked the state's First District Court of Appeal to issue a temporary injunction against Gov. Rick Scott's emergency rule, which sets a Nov. 15 deadline for all assisted living communities and nursing homes in the Sunshine State to obtain generators and enough fuel to enable them "to sustain operations and maintain comfortable temperatures" for at least four days after a power outage.

Two associations representing assisted living operators have joined LeadingAge Florida in challenging an emergency rule issued Sept. 16 that gave assisted living communities in the Sunshine State 60 days to obtain generators and enough fuel to enable them "to sustain operations and maintain comfortable temperatures" for at least four days after a power outage.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has taken actions to close an assisted living community owned by the same company that owns the rehabilitation center where a Hurricane Irma-related air conditioner outage has led to the deaths of 12 residents so far.

LeadingAge Florida on Tuesday filed a legal challenge to Gov. Rick Scott's Sept. 16 emergency rule giving assisted living communities and nursing homes in the state 60 days to obtain generators and enough fuel to enable them "to sustain operations and maintain comfortable temperatures" for at least four days after a power outage.

A 15-member panel would advise local, state and government officials on how to prepare and care for older adults during emergency situations under a bill introduced Tuesday by four senators and discussed Wednesday at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing.

In Focus

May 16

Bringing in the outdoors

Hollidaysburg, PA

Garvey Manor and Our Lady of the Alleghenies Residence continuing care retirement community recently hosted an outdoor show, "Marching into the Woods."

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